Astrological Notes on Professions

Delineating one's career has always been, at least in
modern times, one of the most important jobs of
astrology. "What should I do? What am I good at?
Where do my talents lie? How can I make a lot of
money and yet love my work?" Questions like these
are commonly heard by all practicing astrologers.

The astrological indicators of career have been a
strong interest of mine for at least 15 years. I
discovered many of these combinations a decade
ago, in preparation for a beginner's course in Jyotish
that I was teaching in Miami, Florida. I have recently
discovered several groupings, like cooking and
managers. Others, like the sex industry, I put
together about 8 years ago. So, this article
represents at least 15 years of on-again, off-again
research.

These combinations should be taken as probable and
useful indicators of career leanings and not as the
last word in career delineations.

Doctor - Jupiter (the planet of professionals)
should be strong. There should be a strong
connection between the 5th house of healing and
the 10th house of career. The 12th house should be
strong. I believe this information comes from Mr. K.N.
Rao of India.

Lawyer - Jupiter, the planet of Law, and the 9th
house of Law must be strong. Also it would be good
if the 6th house of combativeness is well represented
in the chart.

Teacher - Jupiter, the planet that rules children
and higher education, ought to have good strength in
the kundali (chart). Also, the 5th house, ruling
intelligence and children, should not be afflicted. The
4th house of education should be attractive.

Sex industry (including exotic dancing, "adult"
media, etc.) - Venus and Mars should be very strong
and aspecting each other, conjunct or in each
other's signs. It is helpful if the Moon (the planet of
happiness) is weak or afflicted. The 1st house of self-
approval should be weak in some way as well.

Music - obviously, Venus - the artistic planet
must have strength, preferably either in its own sign,
exalted, vargottama, retrograde or with dig bala (in
the 4th house.) The 3rd house of performing arts and
self efforts should be strong. The 5th house of
creativity should be attractive.
a. Classical music - Jupiter (the planet of tradition)
should be strong.
b. Rock, modern or jazz music - Rahu, the planet of
modernity and anti-tradition should be affecting
Venus and/or the 5th house.
c. Instrumental music - add Mercury.
d. Vocal music - add the Moon.

Architect - the 4th house (of houses and land),
Mars (the planet of construction and building skills)
and Saturn (the planet of the Earth) must all be well
represented in the chart. Also Jupiter, the planet of
professionals must be strong, otherwise the chart
indicates a builder or one with construction skills but
not an intellectual like an architect.

Successful entrepreneur or captain of industry -
first, the chart should have many Dhana Yogas
(money combinations) and Raja Yogas (leadership
combinations). A Dhana Yoga is defined as a
connection between the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 9th and 11th
houses or their lords (rulers). A Raja Yoga is defined
as a connection between the 1st, 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th
and 10th houses.
Next, the 11th house of gains and Saturn, the planet
of big projects, must be well represented in the
native's chart.
The dasha sequence should indicate success after
success.
The Sun, planet of self-confidence and leadership, is
usually strong.
It would be helpful if the native has at least 1
Mahapurusha Yoga in his/her chart. That is seen
when Mars, Mercury, Saturn, Venus or Jupiter is
exalted or in its own sign in an angle (house 1, 4, 7
or 10) from the Ascendant or the Moon. I have noted
that individuals with 2, 3, or 4 Mahapurusha Yogas
become either rich or famous.
Much of this comes from Hart de Fouw.

Celibate or renunciate yogi - the following house
should have afflictions: the 1st
House of self-confidence, the 2nd house of money
and family life, the 4th house of happiness and home,
the 5th house of children and the 7th house of
marriage. This comes from Nandan Chirmulay.

Modeling (or the beauty industry) - Venus, and
the 1st and 2nd houses are strong.

Technical careers - the natural malefics (Mars,
Saturn, Rahu and Ketu) are strong. Also Mercury
should have some relationship with at least 1 of the
malefics in a prominent way.

Writing - Mercury, Jupiter, and the 3rd house and
5th house are well indicated in the chart.

Skill at foreign languages - Mercury, Ketu, the
2nd house and Jupiter should all be strong.

Manager and/or leadership abilities - strong 1st,
5th, 10th houses; the Sun (the planet of kings) and
Mars (the macho planet) should also be strong.

Automobile business - Venus (planet of luxuries -
including large vehicles), Mars (the mechanical
planet) and the 4th house of cars should all be
unusually strong.

Success in foreign countries - the 9th and 12th
house must be strong. Rahu and Ketu are often
prominent as well as they are the planets
of "foreignness." There should be some afflictions to
the 4th house of home.

Astrology - Jupiter (the planet of tradition and
divinity), Mercury (the planet of talking and
calculations) and Ketu (the Enlightener) should be
strong. The following houses should be attractive -
the 5th (intelligence and past life credit), the 9th
(Divine Science) and the 8th (research into hidden
things).

Cooking - the 2nd house, the Moon and Mars
should be strong.

Sports - Mars (the planet of courage), the 3rd
house of courage, the 5th house of games and the
6th house of competitiveness should be strong. Also,
it would be nice if the planet of play and fun
(Mercury) is well represented. Sagittarius is the sign
of sports. Ideally, it should not be in the 8th or 10th
houses (Taurus or Capricorn rising) for an athlete.

Other than the sex trade and the renunciates, it is
always good to have a strong 1st house, because
the 1st house is the foundation of all success in life.

Please note that the more separate indicators of a
skill (like sports) are connected to each other, the
stronger the skill would be. If, for example, the 3rd,
5th and 6th houses (or their rulers) and Mars all are
conjunct, aspect each other or are in each other's
signs (or nakshatras), then we would truly see a 1st
class athlete, possibly a professional. Also, it would
be best if the dasha or bhukti of one of the
indicators is running at the appropriate age in the
person's life (perhaps age 15 to 30 for an athlete).

Hopefully, this is somewhat useful. You can see that
astrology is filled with "astrological common sense,"
that is, it is mostly just putting together the
meanings of each planet, sign and house in novel and
interesting ways.

(c) copyright 2006 Michael Laughrin.

From the August / September 2006 issue of Michael Laughrin's North American Jyotish
Newsletter. Click to subscribe to this free Jyotish newsletter.